The invention relates to a divider of a milking parlor according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention is concerned with a milking parlor.
Such a milking parlor is used for the mechanical milking of milk-producing animals. Examples of milk-producing animals are cows, goats, sheep, etc. The milking parlor has milking stalls which are separated by dividers. The milking operation can be automated by means of so-called milking robots. Use is made, for example, of rotary milking parlors.
The expression milking parlor is to be understood as constituting arrangements of milking stalls, wherein an angled position of an animal which is to be milked, or an angled position of an imaginary longitudinal axis of an animal which is to be milked, in a milking stall in relation to a reference point or to a reference line may be between 0° and 90°. An example of a reference point used is a pit or a region accessible to staff (e.g. an aisle), which is the location where the milking staff are stationed. An example of a reference line used is the longitudinal side of a rectilinear pit or a tangent to a circular pit.
Milking parlors are, for example, mobile and fixed. Examples of mobile milking parlors are rotary milking parlors in the form of external milking parlors and internal milking parlors, both with any desired direction of rotation. So-called side-by-side milking parlors may also be designed in mobile form. There are also group milking parlors which are fixed, e.g. fishbone milking parlors and tandem milking parlors. This listing is given merely by way of example and is not limiting.
EP 1 084 611 B1 describes a robot-arm structure with a pivotable carrying unit for a milking cluster. The structure can be moved on one or more rails along one or more milking boxes.
The low throughput of milked cows/animals per hour means that the existing automation technology is suitable only to a limited extent, if at all, for large installations. The ever increasing requirements in particular for high throughput numbers and continuous operation require today's milking robots, which are complex and costly, to be used for a number of milking stalls together. This can have a disadvantageous effect, inter alia on account of high complexity levels, and the associated high probability of failure, discontinuous operation and regions barred to staff (safety in the robot area).